4 Helpful Actions In Coping With Work Stress
We’ve all experienced work-related stress. Even the most incredible, fun job can have stressful moments. While stress can be helpful, improving our performance and motivating us to work hard, long-term stress that becomes chronic can be harmful. Chronic stress affects both physical and emotional health, and is more commonly linked to health problems including anxiety, depression, GI issues, sleep disturbances, and chronic pain. We start to shut down:
Been here before?
When overwhelmed with stress, laying in bed… it’s sometimes all I can handle.
There are many sources of stress at work. Some of these include:
Low Support
Unreasonable Workload
Unclear Expectations
Low Control
Monotony & Feeling Stuck
Additionally, when we’re in the stressed-out mode, it can be challenging to remember life without the stress. Feelings of this is never going to end or I guess this is the new normal make us feel even worse and less-likely to take action to counter the stress.
When dealing with work stress, these are 4 tangible action steps that you can take to improve your situation:
1) Keep Track Of What’s Stressful. Either keep a journal or record voice memos for two weeks that focus on when you are feeling the most stress. Where are you? What are you thinking and feeling? Who are you interacting with? These factors will help you identify the triggers. Additionally, record: How are you reacting? Are you going for a walk, reaching for some sugary snacks, getting tearful? Shedding light on your reaction will help you identify helpful and hurtful responses. *It’s important to do this for two weeks to have enough data about your responses and be able to develop a solid plan.
2) Set Solid Boundaries. There is so much pressure to be “accessible” for all hours. There’s wifi, cell phones, email, and therefore you can feel like you always need to be available. This can fuel stress and anxiety even more. What can you do? Make a rule for yourself not to check your phone past a certain hour. Or, make sure you complete your morning routine before checking the email app. While it can be hard and scary to set the boundaries at first, committing to it for 21 days will solidify the habit and reduce the potential for work-life conflict and all the stress that goes with it.
3) Seek Out Support. Seeking out support does not make you weak. In fact, accepting help from the community around you can vastly improve your ability to manage stress. Your health insurance likely has programs dedicated to stress-management, as well as available mental health professionals at reasonable to no cost.
4) Plan Your Stress Response. Many of us will react to stress with food, alcohol, and sedentary activities (like that Netflix binge). While indulging in these things is not a bad thing, getting into the habit of it can be harmful for your long-term stress management. Instead, doing things that physiologically reduce stress can be most effective. When you begin to feel your sympathetic nervous system instigating flight or flight, have some activities on the back burner you can use. For example, an exercise class or video you find fun and uplifting, a delicious book on an interesting topic, or a warm bubble bath. Finding what works for you and implementing it can help stop the stress from piling on. Additionally, limiting caffeine consumption and screen time can also help decrease your sympathetic nervous system and calm you down.
In looking at your current work situation and stress, which of the 4 actions above can you work on developing a strong stress-management regime?